<p>Would it look bad to take 3 aps in your sophomore year but take only 2 in your junior year?</p>
<p>Maybe yes, and maybe no.</p>
<p>Did you decide you just didn’t want to work that hard? That would not impress people.</p>
<p>Did you have to make some kind of legitimate academic choice? (For example, AP English Lit & Language meets at the same time as Honors French 4, and because you really like foreign language, you chose to take Honors French 4, and you took Honors English instead of AP.) That kind of thing happens. If you feel the need, you can explain it in the Common App, or your guidance school can address it in his or her letter. But if you had to choose between two challenging academic experiences because you couldn’t do both of them, that’s OK.</p>
<p>When you took 3 AP classes in the 10th grade, were you overextended? That would be a handicap if you’re applying to the most selective colleges and universities, but taking one less AP would be a reasonable reaction to an unfortunate fact, and it wouldn’t be a big issue at most universities and colleges in the country.</p>
<p>Did you take one less AP to leave more time for extracurricular activities? You’ll probably get conflicting opinions on that one. Even though academics matter a lot more than extracurricular activities in college admissions, and virtually no extracurricular activity will make up for substandard academic accomplishments, I think it’s a defensible decision. Quality of life matters, and quality of life involves more than just school work. Moreover, if you’re trying to get into Yale, this won’t make any difference anyway. The applicants who actually get into Yale are taking highly demanding course loads and doing a lot outside the classroom as well; so if you’re having to make the choice, no matter which one you choose, Yale is going to take some other applicant who didn’t have to choose.</p>
<p>It’s mostly for extracurricular activities because I want to focus on some contests. My question is if 5 aps are enough for most top tier colleges?</p>
<p>The number of APs your HS offers is also a factor. If they offer a lot, then 3 sophomore year and 2 junior year won’t look good to the top tier schools. A more typical progression might be 2 sophomore, 4 junior, 5 senior, but of course it’s a factor of how many APs your school offers.</p>
<p>Top schools see lots of applications with 10+ APs before senior year.</p>
<p>If by “top tier” you mean Harvard, Duke, Stanford, Amherst, sherpa’s quite right. If you’re trying to get into one of those colleges, and there are a lot of other students in your high school who’ve taken a lot more APs than you have, you’ll be toast, unless you’re also one of the top high-school linebackers in Texas, or perhaps a Kennedy.</p>
<p>Most of my friends are taking 6 aps by the end of their junior year. One less ap wouldn’t matter that much would it?</p>
<p>When you say that you want to free up time to “focus on some contests”, do you mean something like the national science research contests?</p>